


Sketches and Snapshots

by Wilder



Series: Into the Future [3]
Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Bad Sleeping Habits, Canon Compliant, Cute Dorks, Drabbles, F/M, Fluff, Life Changing Field Trip, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Reader Of Unspecified Gender, Scrapbooks, Sickfic, Travel Plans, cameo by guinevere the savage kitten, jihyun kim is a hopeless romantic, jihyun kim needs all the love, writer!MC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-26
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-01-05 17:54:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12194826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wilder/pseuds/Wilder
Summary: “You actually made a scrapbook,” you chuckle. “I really thought you were just being dramatic.”“I amneverjust being dramatic,” Jihyun says.Your eyebrows try to climb right up into your hairline.His laugh is your favorite sound in the world.(a collection of short JihyunxMC stories)





	1. Creative Insomnia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone has to take the role of "responsible adult" when it comes to sleeping habits, but neither of you is really cut out for that particular job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: T  
> Timing: Two years after V's good ending, shortly after "Feels Like Heaven to Me"

Your fiancé is a deeply frustrating human being.

“Jihyun, it’s three in the morning.”

He jumps and turns to look at you. His eyes have that kind of too-wide stare they get from overcompensating for his terrible sleeping habits.

(you also know that look from your own mirror, but your hypocrisy is not relevant)

“I’m almost done.”

“You’re not almost done. Come on, babe. Your studio isn’t going anywhere.”

Jihyun fiddles with the brush in his right hand for a moment before setting it down and stretching his arms. His long legs are a little wobbly when he stands up, and you wonder just how many hours he spent in that same awkward position.

“So why are _you_ awake, exactly?” he asks after rinsing off his brushes.

“My pillow didn’t come to bed,” you grouch under your breath as you pull him through the doorway and switch off the studio lights.

The two of you fall asleep tangled up in each other, Guinevere curled and purring at your feet.

 

“You’re still up?” 

Jihyun’s still half asleep, his speech slurred with drowsiness and soft with concern.

You guess you’re a deeply frustrating human being, too, but any crack in writer’s block must be exploited. You smile and press your fingers to his lips.

“Shh, my brain is cooperating.”

“You’re going to regret this in the morning,” he mumbles from behind your hand.

He clumsily paws at your laptop in a vain attempt to shut it, but you laugh and catch his wrist.

“ _No_ , sweetheart, I’ll sleep when I run out of words.”

“Please?”

Jihyun has the single most heartbreaking set of sad puppy eyes on the planet. Unfair. _Un. Fair_.

But to be honest, your eyelids are starting to feel a bit like sandpaper.

“Fine. But if I’ve lost this idea when I wake up, I’m going to whine at you.”

“Deal,” he murmurs. You set your laptop on the bedside table, kiss his cheek, and burrow under the duvet.

 

“Ow, shit!”

Jihyun startles awake at your pained yelp, and a ball of gray and white fuzz darts off your bed and into the closet.

“ _Gwin!_ ”

Well, shit. Your toes must have moved without the cat’s approval. Now you’re awake. Your head falls back against the pillows with a groan of frustration.

“Are you okay?” Jihyun asks softly.

You extract your foot from the covers and determine that there’s no real damage to your skin, but a glance at the clock (4:18 AM) confirms some significant damage to your night’s sleep.

“Sorry I woke you,” you murmur, running your fingers through Jihyun’s hair.

“I swear I’m going to lock that cat out of the bedroom someday,” he groans.

“You’re full of shit,” you chuckle.

He huffs a laugh through his nose, because he is full of shit. He loves Guinevere, no matter how often she raises the bar for savage kitten behavior.

You settle back into your warm cocoon of blankets at Jihyun’s side, not sure if you’ll get back to sleep, but perfectly happy to stay right where you are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just love my soft pastel husband okay.


	2. In the Meantime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He told you before he left that you didn't have to wait for him, that he would understand if you moved on. You told him the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: T  
> Timing: Starts during V's time away, ends a little over a year after he returns

_You don’t have to wait for me. I already owe you so much._

As you sit in Jaehee’s café looking at V’s latest photo (the night sky framed by evergreens), you laugh softly at the memory of those words.

It’s been eleven months since you saw his face. Really, there’s no guarantee that he’ll ever return, or that he’ll ever heal enough to give you what he’s convinced you deserve.

But you’re not giving up anything you really want. When you met V, you didn’t expect to feel this way about him. Most people just don’t interest you, and even the rare person who’s approached you since V left wouldn’t have gotten your number before either.

So you help out Jaehee and her partner (an adorable bubbly redhead who makes Jaehee laugh and blush on a daily basis) with the café, work out concepts for the party, and continue to trust that V will come home.

 

Jihyun asks you, over a year after finding you again, if there was anyone else in the two years he was away. Not out of insecurity (Jihyun knows beyond doubt that you love him and him alone), but simple curious whim.

“Um… I went to a wedding as Zen’s date, does that count?”

Jihyun chuckles and pulls you a little closer with the arm currently wrapped around your waist.

“However did you resist?”

“Resist _what?_ ” you ask with a snort. “I adore Zen, but even if I _did_ see him that way, I like cats.” 

You look pointedly at Guinevere, who is currently on a mission to disembowel her latest catnip mouse.

“What about you?” you ask. The question is just as innocent as his. You did tell him he didn’t have to wait for you either, after all.

Jihyun shakes his head.

“I didn’t spend much time in the general population, really. When I did, I might go out, have a drink or two. And I’d be lying if I said I never got attention.” He laughs out loud and rubs the back of his neck with one hand. “God, that sounded so arrogant!”

“Your words, beautiful,” you tease, and the slightest blush tinges his cheeks.

Honestly, you sort of love it when he gets a little full of himself.

“ _Anyway_ ,” Jihyun continues, “it didn’t take long before I noticed that the only ones who caught any of _my_ attention reminded me of you.”

Your blush is more dramatic than his.

“Oh my god, you giant fucking sap,” you laugh, lightly shoving his shoulder.

“Guilty as charged,” Jihyun admits with a grin, and he kisses your neck to hear you squeal with undignified ticklish surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He's just so good. So good. 
> 
> This is very short but I felt like I needed to write something about the fact that they didn't spend that whole two years pining over each other, they focused on what they needed to be doing (healing and finding himself in Jihyun's case, working and rebuilding RFA in MC's), and the things they needed to be doing didn't involve romantic relationships.
> 
> Also yes, Jaehee's girlfriend is the redheaded MC from the default icons.


	3. Tea and Sympathy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you’re pretty sure you died a couple years back and your boyfriend is some kind of angel, but you don’t think people get brutal colds in heaven so that’s probably not it.
> 
> Rating: T  
> Timing: Ambiguous, at some point after the good ending but before Feels Like Heaven to Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I'm trash and because every drabble collection needs tooth-rotting sickfic I guess? Also because I had the actual worst cold _e v e r_ last week and I really wanted a sweet blue boy to hug me.

You feebly fling a tissue in the general direction of the trash can (and miss), then hunker back down into your blanket nest on the couch and fumble around for the remote.

“Shit, where did I…?”

There’s only so much of this cold you can sleep through, and you seem to have used your quota for now. You groan and close your eyes for a moment before you feel soft lips on your forehead.

“No, baby, don’t kiss me, I’m gross,” you whine.

“But I still want to kiss you,” Jihyun says with a little smile.

“Bullshit,” you sort of croak. “Quit, I don’t want you getting this.”

“Tea, cocoa? Movie?”

Your boyfriend is a _saint_. Sometimes you’re pretty sure you died a couple years back and he’s some kind of angel, but you don’t think people get brutal colds in heaven so that’s probably not it.

“I love you,” you whisper. “Tea and a movie would be great.”

Oh hell, are you crying? You’re _crying_. Christ, being sick turns you into an even bigger sap than Jihyun.

“I love you too,” he murmurs. “I’ll be right back.”

You burrow a little deeper into the mound of blankets, feeling indulgently sorry for yourself. You can usually power through with cold meds and stubborn determination, but this one has you wiped out.

When your ginger tea with honey is comfortingly cradled in your freezing hands, Jihyun settles down next to the lump of blankets and sniffles, wraps one arm around it, and turns on a movie you know well enough that it won’t piss you off if you fall asleep halfway through.

He’s great. You love him. Shit, this is how you know life isn’t fair, because there’s no way you deserve this beautiful sweet man spoiling the living hell out of you while you’re way too disgusting to be attractive.

You do fall asleep halfway through the movie. When you resurface, his silky hair is fanned out on your shoulder.

“Hey,” he whispers. “Can I get you anything?”

“I’m good,” you murmur. “Got everything I need right here.”

 

“You don’t have to –”

“ _Jihyun_ ,” you interrupt. “Let me take care of you, okay? It’s _fine_. I _want_ to.”

He tries really hard not to look miserable for a second, then surrenders. 

You make him tea. You put on an artsy movie he likes. And you kiss him with the excuse that you can’t get your own cold back and you’re making sure he’s not feverish.

Definitely not because you still want to kiss him no matter how objectively gross a cold can make anyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was V at AAC this weekend and it was amazing! People stopped me for pictures, said I was a great V (I squealed), and at least one person knew my fic because they asked if I'd read FLHtM and I was like "uhhh I wrote it" so that was pretty neat. Also I did okay in the Dating Game and our group won a round of the Death Match :D There's probably video somewhere.


	4. Scrapbook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He really did make a scrapbook of cancelled plane tickets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: General Audiences  
> Timing: Less than six months after Jihyun's good ending

“Oh my god.”

Your voice shakes with laughter as you flip through the pages.

“You actually made a scrapbook,” you chuckle. “I really thought you were just being dramatic.”

“I am _never_ just being dramatic,” Jihyun says.

Your eyebrows try to climb right up into your hairline.

“I seem to remember some theatrics over a missing puzzle piece last week.”

“It was important!” he protests.

“It was stuck under a flap in the box and I found it in five seconds!” you retort, sticking out your tongue in childish triumph.

His laugh is your favorite sound in the world.

 

There are seventeen of them in all, not counting the one he actually used (a flight from Tokyo that landed in Seoul the day before the party). 

The first plane would have taken off in Beijing, only a few weeks after he left.

“You deserved better than the person I was when I bought that,” Jihyun says, lacing his slender fingers with yours. “I was a mess. It was… not my finest moment.”

You squeeze his hand and lean against him. Jihyun still falls into self-doubt sometimes, asking himself questions like if he deserves you, if he deserves happiness. He’s much more confident now, of course, but you worry.

The scrapbook gets easier as it goes on. He didn’t buy a second ticket until nearly eight months later, when his head was in a much better place and he actually thought he might be ready.

He hums softly, gently tracing the edges of the boarding pass printed at Shannon Airport. Ireland was kind to him; he started to feel whole there, for the first time in longer than he cared to figure out.

The ticket dates come closer and closer together, trips planned on impulse and impatience and eagerness rather than discouragement and fear.

St. Petersburg.

London.

Sydney.

San Francisco.

Berlin.

Montreal.

Oslo.

“I’m getting a little jealous here, babe,” you tease.

“Where do you want to go?” he asks.

“Ugh, _everywhere_.”

“Okay.”

You turn to look at him so fast you hear your neck click.

“What?”

“Okay,” Jihyun repeats, a sly smile quickly evolving into a grin. “Let’s go everywhere.”

You stare at him, unable to entirely process that invitation.

Jihyun laughs and kisses you with the dizzying joy you hope you’ll never get used to.

“I already found myself. Let’s find more of you,” he murmurs.

You pull him into a crushing hug, speechless.

“You know, I think this will make a much better scrapbook,” he whispers. “Scenery’s fine by itself, but you’ll make it all so much more beautiful.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You cannot tell me this walking aesthetic did not actually do this ridiculous thing. Also I'm really biased on the subject of Ireland so I had to throw in that line. I miss it so much ;_; Travel adventures may continue.


	5. Safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You can't stop dreams from tracing the lines of old wounds, but you trust each other to be safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: General Audience  
> Timing: Ambiguous, after "Feels Like Heaven to Me"

_I can’t let you see me right now_.

He speaks like it’s his fault that he can barely breathe, that his hands tremble uncontrollably and his voice wavers with pain. You open the door to the cabin’s tiny bedroom slowly, but V’s sharp gasp makes it clear you’ve startled him.

“Just me,” you say. “Easy, V. You’re going to be okay.”

It takes a few fast, shaky breaths before he can even open his eyes to look at you. When you rest your hand over one of his, he catches it and holds on with a desperately tight grip. Your stomach ties itself in knots with worry. You wish it were safe to get him to the hospital.

“I-I’m… sor… s-sorry….” His voice is barely audible, interrupted by shudders that hit him so hard you can see his slight frame shaking. Two simple words leave him breathless and gasping for air.

“Nothing to be sorry for,” you murmur. “Just rest, V. You’ll be okay. I’ll stay right here.”

You brush back his sweat-soaked hair and rest the back of your hand on his forehead. Still burning up. His fever has to break soon, you think. How much more can his battered body endure?

“You’ll be okay.” You keep repeating it, hoping beyond reason that you’re right. “I brought you some water. You need to keep drinking, Vanderwood’s orders.”

He’s too weak, so you help him sit up against the wall. V feels worryingly fragile, like he could blow away in a breeze. Too thin even before this ordeal, dark shadows etched under his eyes, blackening bruises stark against the pale skin of his neck. You’re so afraid you’ll hurt him.

You hold the glass to let him take small sips. His throat is too sore to drink any faster, but the cool liquid clearly offers some relief.

“Thank you,” V whispers. You smile and squeeze his hand.

“Do you think you can sleep? Anything else I can do?”

He looks at your hand still tangled up in his, and then up to your eyes.

“I’m sorry, it’s selfish to ask,” he mumbles, “but would you… stay here? Just until I can…?”

“As long as you want,” you promise.

Some of the tension seems to leave him then, and his tired eyes drift shut.

You sit quietly by his side, listening to his shallow breaths, praying that you can do enough to keep him alive.

 

Every so often, that scene still plays behind your eyes at night. For a moment after you wake, you’re back in that cabin, watching the love of your life (just V then, a wounded man you barely knew) fight for every breath. It fades back into greyscale memory when your eyes flutter open, when you feel the solid warmth of Jihyun at your side. Healthy and safe where he belongs, where with any luck he’ll always be in one way or another. You breathe worry out and breathe him in.

The things he endured may never leave him entirely; you know he dreams about them sometimes, too. But whether the two of you are physically separated by inches or oceans, he knows he can always call if he needs to, and you know the same.

You trust each other to be safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one started off as hurt/comfort, set right after an outgoing call on day 8 of Jihyun's route. I decided to frame it as a dream and end the drabble on a happier note instead. I just -clenches fists- love my boy so much. And W H E R E is his after end it has been OVER A YEAR.


End file.
